Beauty is inherently political.

Korea has always been a country known for plastic surgery. Ever since I was little, Korean dramas have been popular among many households in Asia. However, one comment that I always hear repeatedly from my aunt, who is a big fan of all the Korean dramas, about the actresses in the shows is that “ oh, she is pretty, but she’s got plastic surgery.”Therefore, I grew up with the impression that ALL Korean women who are pretty must have had plastic surgery done themselves. Some examples of the popular plastic surgery in Asia are such as double eyelids surgery, chin extension surgery, nose job, fillings or even the bleaching of the skins to make themselves to appear to be “whiter.” It is not hard to see that Asian women are trying to perform surgeries on themselves to make themselves look as far away from the stereotypical Asian looks as possible. Some people believe that this has something to do with the Eurocentric standard of beauty and some even relate this to racial problems, however, I disagree with this saying. While the Western culture influences the Asian beauty standard, it is unfair to say that the Asian women are trying to look more like white people. People are striving for a certain look because of that match the aesthetic of a certain culture; I know many girls who are Asians and have had plastic surgeries done on their faces, but none of them undergo the surgeries thinking that they want to obtain Caucasian face features.
As Professor Lee said in the article, the Miss Korea gif went viral on the internet due to people’s shocking reaction over how identical all the contestants while the truth is the photos of the contestants have been photoshopped. In one of the documentaries done by CBS called “Behind the plastic surgery boom in South Korea,” the show send the host to interview the patients for plastic surgery in Korea. However, as the host stepped into the plastic surgery clinic, he made a comment about how the two ladies at the front desk look identical since he thought they both have plastic surgery performed on their faces. However, it is very obvious that not only do the two ladies look nothing alike; it is even more apparent that the woman on the left has nature and average looking face while the woman on the right has a visible sign of plastic surgery on her face. People had put this stereotypical impression on Korean women just like I had when I was growing up. A lot of times the only see an individual who has had plastic surgery done is their faces and neglected their personality and other characteristics about the person. I believe that at the end of the day, regardless of what people think or said, I think everyone has the right to strive for a better look. If getting plastic surgeries do make people feel happier, then I think no one has the right to tell others what is the right thing to do.

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vanessachew0927

4 thoughts on “Misconceptions about Korean Plastic Surgeries”

I agree with you – to say all Korean women are getting plastic surgery just to mimic Eurocentric/white beauty standards is unfair, and perhaps giving the western world too much credit. None of us are experts on *every* culture in the world, so who’s to say that these beauty standards don’t exist elsewhere?
As for plastic surgery itself, I struggle with my stance on it. I think, of course, it’s ideal to find peace and happiness with our “natural” selves, but maybe some people just can’t do that, and through no fault of their own. We also shouldn’t paint plastic surgery as merely black or white – many people need it for health reasons, such as breast reduction.
I want to say that we should be body positive and embrace who we are, but I don’t want to deny anyone access to what they think will bring them happiness. Furthermore, I think we maybe attach too much of the self to the body. We, as individuals, are more than just our body, but our body does belong to *us*. If we are to claim agency over our own bodies, can’t we do with it what we want?
There must be some balance we can strike between embracing our given bodies, but also embracing our freedom of choice to change it.

I think that you make many valid points here, and I agree it is unfair to say that all Korean women who undergo plastic surgery do so because they wish to look more white. But I do think that it’s not just a coincidence that these women are bleaching their skin or getting double eyelid surgery. I think that perhaps these women don’t consciously strive to look more caucasian but maybe throughout time these commonly european features have been adopted by women in Korean media through cosmetic surgery and this becomes their new standard of beauty. So maybe the goal today isn’t to look white but to look like this other famous Korean woman who has a slimmer nose and whiter skin and that is their standard, but I think that this may all stem from trying to appease unfair western pressures of beauty, but who knows. I just think it would be unfair to take all the blame away from eurocentric pressures. It must have been really difficult growing up in a community where anyone who is considered beautiful is automatically assumed to have undergone plastic surgery. I think if anything this further perpetuates the desire in young women to participate in cosmetic surgery because if everyone who is beautiful has had it, why shouldn’t you?

While I agree that people have the right to undergo plastic surgery if they so desire, and also find issues with the moralistic attitude of flattening the three dimensionality of patients as people into Koreans Who Got Plastic Surgery, I’m not sure what you mean when you argue that Asian women get surgery to “make themselves look as far away from the stereotypical look as possible.” From Sharon Lee’s “Beauty Between Empires,” it seems to me that the white American obsession with South Korean beauty practices imposes a set of imperialist ideas of what Asians “stereotypically” look like, and apply a self-obsessed narcissism to these women in arguing that they want to look white. If these women are indeed striving to escape from a “stereotype,” I am left wondering what exactly is this stereotype? Whose stereotype is it? From whose perspective? South Koreans do not have a stereotype of themselves.

I agree with this. There are Korean girls who naturally possess these features we deam eurocentric. Wanting to slim down a nose or extend a chin is often done with the aim of looking more “feminine” or proportional, not to be more white. They are trying to look like other Korean women that for the most part, have plastic surgery. I also struggle with whether I approve of plastic surgery. I do think it is very situational, but maybe it shouldn’t be? It is true that people get ahead with looks. You will rarely ever see a beautiful woman homeless on the streets. Therefore, when we see women exceling in careers and socially due to their appearrance, is it that wrong for us to want to put ourselves on an equal playing field as them? Even if plastic surgery was outlawed, this urge to be beautiful wouldn’t change, because there are still millions of naturally beautiful people that we would still be compared to/compare ourselves to. I think that would make women even more miserable as they wouldn’t even have the option to get plastic surgery and then would feel stuck, especially if they had facial deformities from birth. Beauty is inescapable.

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